A Toronto woman who vanished five years ago was murdered and cremated by two men in a slaying triggered by a love triangle, court heard Monday.

Laura Babcock was a friend and later a lover of aviation heir Dellen Millard before he started dating Christina Noudga, said Crown attorney Jill Cameron in her opening statement to the jury.

Babcock informed Millard’s new girlfriend that she “was still sleeping with Millard,” said Cameron.

“Noudga was very upset about this,” said Cameron.

Babcock, a University of Toronto graduate with a degree in English and drama, “began working as an escort,” added Cameron.

Babcock had broken up with her boyfriend, Shawn Lerner. but they remained close friends.

Millard, 31, of Etobicoke, and his best friend, Mark Smich, 29, of Oakville, are facing first-degree murder charges in the death-disappearance of Babock, 23, in July 2012. Both have pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution is alleging Babcock was murdered at Millard’s Etobicoke home on July 3 or July 4, 2012, and her remains burned.

Millard revealed in a text conversation with Noudga in April 2012 how he planned to alleviate his girlfriend’s concerns, court heard.

“First I am going to hurt her. Then I’ll make her leave. I will remove her from our lives,” Cameron said Millard texted Noudga.

Millard asked his mechanic to build a home-made incinerator in May 2012, but the device didn’t work. Millard then purchased a large incinerator called The Eliminator and received it on July 5, 2012.

Towards the end of June, Babcock no longer wanted to live at her parents’ home and was looking for somewhere else to live, said Cameron. Lerner generously paid for Babcock to stay at a west-end hotel for two days near the end of June and provided her with his company iPad, court heard.

Babcock’s last eight cellphone calls on July 2 and July 3 were made to Millard and once to her voicemail at 7:03 p.m. on July 3, 2012, said Cameron.

The Crown alleged phone records will also place Millard and Smich at or near Millard’s Maple Gate Court home.

On July 23, 2012, once hearing that the incinerator was working, Millard sent Smich a text message, stating, “The BBQ is ready for meat.”

Later on the same night, Smich wrote lyrics to a rap song on the iPad that Lerner gave to Babcock.

“The b—- started off all skin and bones, now the b—- lay on some ashy stone, last time I saw her is outside the home and if you go swimming you can find her phone,” stated the lyrics.

Police found a video on Millard’s computer in which Smich cheerfully performed his song in his best friend’s basement in September 2012, said Cameron.

Dellen Millard (Facebook)

Laura Babcock’s father testifies

Clayton Babcock recalled the last conversation with his daughter — three or four days before she vanished without a trace in July 2012.

Clayton and his wife Linda were attending a friend’s renewal-of-vows party on June 30, 2012 when Laura Babcock phoned her dad.

Laura announced she was going away for a few days and asking her parents to care for her white Maltese dog, Lacey, at their home, testified Clayton Babcock.

The 60-year-old scientific equipment salesman and his wife, Linda, marked their 35th wedding anniversary on Monday — the opening day of the trial of the men accused of murdering their only daughter.

When they arrived home from their party in June 2012, the Babcocks found the football-sized puppy in a crate inside their daughter’s room. The father found the usual mess Laura left in the kitchen — dirty dishes, court heard.

Babcock said he and his wife were “good parents, but stern parents.”

He wanted their daughter to stick to partying and keeping late nights exclusively on Friday and Saturday nights, instead of on weekdays when an early morning entrance sparked the dogs’ barking, testified the father.

“She couldn’t stand the structure. I don’t think the rules were outrageous,” but Laura would spend half the time living at other people’s homes or at the university dormitory.

“She was always welcome at home. Her room was there for her,” said Clayton, who enjoyed watching “Say Yes to the Dress” with Laura and playing games.

Laura Babcock dreamed of being in movies and tried out as an extra, but was refused for being “too tall (she was 5-foot-10), too busty or not busty enough,” recalled her father.

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